If you wish to stay longer than your visa permits, then you can consider extending your visa.
Countries in SE Asia vary by how they process visa extensions. Extensions may not even be allowed for your given visa.
Extending your visa might be (1) only in person at a local immigration office, (2) only online, or (3) through an agent. Cambodia is well known for long-term stay extensions done within the country using a local Travel/Visa Agency as an intermediary. These agencies also sell motorbike rentals and tour guide services.
We detail the extension types and information above in the “Visa By Country” section.
Extending A Visa By Country
Philippines 🇵🇭
Go to immigration office. 🛂
Google Maps: search “immigration”, read reviews and people will have listed out the procedure and cost to extend a visa. There seems to be a different process for each immigration office.
Vietnam 🇻🇳
No tourist visa extensions allowed. ☹️
Cambodia 🇰🇭
[ 1 ] Extend a 1 month tourist visa (Tourist T-class) for 1 extra month.
[ 2 ] Extend a 1 month tourist visa (Ordinary E-class) for 1, 3, 6, or 12 extra month(s).
Note
Once you extend your visa (Tourist T-class or Ordinary E-class, whichever one you got) you will get an extension sticker in your passport. It is no longer a full-page sticker – it’s about 1/4 the size of a passport page.
The extensions add-on days to your existing visa, so your existing visa is valid until the expiration date (hence the word “extension”). This is awesome, because you aren’t throwing-away days.
Tip
Hold onto your departure card! You will need this when exiting the country. Do not give it when extending your visa, it is yours to hold onto.
Warning
⚠️ Tourist T-class visa versus Ordinary E-class visa:
Tourist T-class is for 1 month stays + only a single extension of 1 month allowed (2 months total).
Ordinary E-class is for 1 month stays + multiple extensions and/or extensions for 1 month or longer. So, if you wish to extend longer (3, 6, or 12 months extra) you need an ‘Ordinary E-class’ visa instead of a ‘Tourist T-class’ visa.
These 2 visas are nearly the exact same thing, but the ‘Ordinary E-class’ can also be used for tourism, and costs $5 more.
Do not confuse the ‘e-visa’ (visa applied for online + electronically approved, not applied for in person upon arrival) with the Ordinary E-class visa (a visa type, which just so happens to be able to be applied for online as an e-visa or upon arrival in person).
*This is a ‘warning’, because many people make the mistake of getting a T-class visa and try to extend it for 3/6/12 months. They should have got the E-class visa!
How to extend -> Go to a visa agent. You can extend at the immigration office in Phnom Penh, but this is known to be very bureaucratic and challenging for those who aren’t aware of the requirements. The visa agent is easy and straight forward.
Visa Agent (easy way)
-> Consult an visa agent
-> Choose your specific visa extension type (retirement, look for work, business, etc.)
-> If required, purchase a work permit & other documents from the agent, which has extra cost. This depends on the visa extension type & length that you are interested in.
Note
If you are in the country for more than 3 months you are, technically, supposed to have a work permit. A work permit is required to apply for a 12 month visa (retirement, or work/business).
*Note that the rules a subject to change. Sometimes, within a few months. It seems as if rules get stricter slowly over time.
-> Pay 💵
-> NOTE: You might need your FPCS registration (Foreigner Presence in Cambodia System), but the agent typically takes care of this.
-> Hand-over your passport to them for approximately 2 weeks.
-> They deal with immigration on your behalf.
-> Collect your passport after your visa extension has been processed. ✅
Extend by yourself at Immigration Office 🛂 (hard way)
-> Can only be done at immigration in Phnom Penh
-> Go to immigration, fill out the forms, you might need your registration with local police (your hotel should be responsible for this), pay – DONE!
-> You may have to leave your passport with immigration for a few days until they process your visa extension request, then return to collect it.
-> You need your FPCS registration (Foreigner Presence in Cambodia System).
Note
Added bureaucracy and “other requirements” are not listed, below. So, it sounds easier than it really is.
Laos 🇱🇦
-> Go to a local immigration office 🛂, which must be in the city in which you are staying.
Note
It’s common for motorbike/scooter rental shops to require a passport deposit. So, if you need to extend your visa you’ll have to find other transportation (only local tuk-tuks are available, or the Loca app).
-> Fill out a form
-> Pay ✅
-> Done ✅
-> FYI: You may have to leave your passport with immigration for a few days until they process your visa extension request, then return to collect it.
Tip
In Laos, you can extend your visa by a specific # of days. Pretty cool! The pricing is on a per-day-basis.
So, if you only want to extend 5 days, then you pay for the price for only 5 days, not a full month!
Thailand 🇹🇭
This applies to Tourist visa exemption stamp or Tourist visa (administered to you by an embassy).
-> Go to a local immigration office 🛂, which must be in the city in which you are staying.
Tip
Be the first person there. Get there 15-30 minutes before the immigration office opens.
The line starts forming very early! We’ll warn you – the line get very long every single day, and it will add hours to your day. Thailand is a popular place for extending tourist visas (the visa-exemption stamp, technically speaking).
-> Fill out a form (the TM 7 form) at the immigration office, in-person.
Tip
The form is slightly different for each immigration office. However, you can download one + fill it out as a reference. That way, when you get to the immigration office, you’ll be able to quickly copy/paste the information into the form provided.
-> Provide documents (see list, below)
-> Pay 💵
-> They stamp your passport with an extension.
-> Acknowledge + confirm the required “leave the country by” date.
-> Done ✅
Documents include:
*Sometimes, copies and possibly phots can be done onsite for a cheap price. We cannot guarantee it – check Google Maps. If you can, it’s best to have everything done before hand.*
1
A photo (size determined by immigration office)
Note
The specific photo size is determined by the local immigration office, it may or may not be a passport photo size.
2
Copy of your passport
> Bring 2 printout copies of your passport biometric page.
3
Copy of your visa
> Bring 2 printout copies of your visa, or visa-exemption stamp.
4
Registration with local immigration or police:
See this link about Registering your stay, which is required for a visa extension for some countries.
> Bring a printout of your TM30 (registration with local police). This should be provided to you by your hotel, apartment, etc. They are the ones responsible to registering you, although they do not always do it like they are supposed to. If you do not have a TM30 registration, then bring a booking confirmation or receipt for your place of stay.
Note
NOTE: If you are staying with a friend or family, which is not a paid place of stay, then you need to register yourself within 24 hours of arrival.
Malaysia 🇲🇾
No tourist visa extensions allowed (for Tourist visa stamp given on arrival). ☹️
Indonesia 🇮🇩
Tourist e-Visa (the one applied for/approved online) can be extended online, or in person at an immigration office. However, the Tourist visa obtained upon arrival at an airport (land port, too? not sure …) only can be extended in person at an immigration office.
As you can imagine, the e-visa makes life much more convenient. Extending in person may result in a few back-and-forth visits to apply, and then return to pickup your passport with an extension a few days after applying.
Online (easy way)
-> Go to the same immigration website in which you applied for your e-visa.
-> Follow the directions. It’s really simple and easy to do it.
Tip
This blog post online has a really good tutorial (regardless of being from 2024).
https://trackslesstravelled.com/how-to-extend-evoa-bali-visa/
-> Pay 💵
-> Done ✅
In-person at Immigration Office (hard way)
-> Go to a local immigration office 🛂, which must be in the city in which you are staying.
-> Fill out a form
-> Pay 💵
-> Done ✅